


New Friends

by captainamergirl



Series: A Drabble A Day [2]
Category: The Bold and the Beautiful
Genre: AU, Donna and Eric platonic, F/M, age is just a number, with the hint of more
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-20
Updated: 2018-01-20
Packaged: 2019-03-07 03:42:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,191
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13426059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainamergirl/pseuds/captainamergirl
Summary: During a fateful visit to the city park, Donna unexpectedly makes 2 new friends. AU Deric.





	New Friends

**Author's Note:**

> So apparently my muse is in a Donna/Eric mood... again!

**New Friends** ****  
  
“Which one is yours?” She hears a husky, masculine voice ask. She looks over to see a man sitting on the bench opposite hers. His hair is salt and pepper and he has a handsome face and distinguished carriage. He must be at least twenty years her senior. A bag of juice boxes and Lunchables sits at his side.  
  
Donna shakes her head sadly. “None of them are mine,” she admits. It’s crazy, she knows, but she’s drawn to little children; almost by some unseen force. Maybe it’s guilt; maybe it’s just that she’s a glutton for punishment… Whatever the reason is, every now and again, she finds herself sitting on a bench in some park, watching kids playing happily, slipping down the slides, pumping their legs on the swings while screaming, _“Mommy, higher! Push me higher, Mommy!” …_ Words she’ll never hear directed at her…  
  
_Would her child have been as happy as these ones?_  
  
The man nods. “Oh, then you must be a nanny.”  
  
“No, I’m not a nanny. I did have a child… but I lost him…. I guess I come to the park occasionally because I like to envision what he’d be like at this age. But that’s neither here nor there.” She sighs. “Judging by the number of snacks you brought, I’d bet at least one or two of these children belong to you.”  
  
“Just one does, actually. I just like come to be prepared.” He points ahead. “There he is. That’s my grandson, Dino.” He points to a dark-haired little boy of about three years of age, sitting in the sandbox, happily shoveling sand into a green pail. “By the way -” he holds out his hand to her - “my name is Eric.”  
  
She takes his hand, giving it a light shake. “I’m Donna. And Dino is adorable.”  
  
They slip into a companionable silence but then he speaks again; looks at her earnestly. “I hope you don’t think I’m prying, but I couldn’t help but notice when you mentioned the child you lost, a look of sadness flickered in your eyes... Can I ask what happened?”  
  
She nods slowly as she splays her hands on her lap. “His name was Marcus… My son… He was the cutest little boy... I got pregnant with him when I was still a teenager. I raised him for as long as I could but eventually I had to give him up… I knew I was cheating him out of having the life he deserved.”  
  
She had loved nothing more than snuggling with Marcus; she remembers that so well. She also remembers the night she made the painful decision to give him up for adoption. She’d been through a nasty breakup with a man who _wasn’t_ Marcus’s father and was sporting a bruise on her cheek to tell the tale. She sat in a lawn chair in a dirty, cramped trailer, sobbing as rain seeped through the roof. Marcus had been sleeping fitfully in his second-hand playpen and in that moment she realized, her son needed more than this. He deserved more than she could give him. She'd ended up calling her father Stephen, telling him that she needed his help to find Marcus a good family. The arrangements were made so quickly that she experienced a keen sensation of whiplash.  
  
She vividly remembers the day she last saw her son; remembers watching his new parents’ backs as they carried him away. His arms were outstretched to her and he screamed, _‘Mama, Mama!’_ frantically, as teardrops rolled down his chubby little face. She had tried to say that she made a mistake but Stephen had just hurried her out of the agency. He reminded her that she was doing the right thing for her son; that she was too young to raise a child; that she was just a kid herself, after all. He said that those two people could offer Marcus a better life than she ever could. She had known her father was right, but it hurt so badly…  
  
As her father stuffed her into the backseat of his jalopy, she managed to catch a glimpse of Marcus as his new parents drove away with him in a Lexus that looked fresh off of the lot. She had believed they were taking all of her dreams with them in that expensive car...  
  
“I think of him all the time,” Donna says, forcing herself to keep the tears from her eyes and the shakiness from her voice. “I always wonder what he looks like now; if he’s happy and if he’s healthy...”  
  
She sighs and looks back at Eric. “I’m sorry. That was probably more than you ever wanted to hear.”  
  
“No, don’t worry. I asked, after all. Plus, I figure if you can’t tell a complete stranger what’s troubling you, then who can you tell?” His eyes are full of gentle understanding and it touches her heart somehow.  
  
“That was over fifteen years ago,” Donna says. “You’d think I would be over it by now.”  
  
“I doubt anyone gets over missing their child. He came from you, from your body… He was a part of you and I can tell that you loved him very much. You unselfishly gave him the opportunity for a more secure life… In my book, that’s maternal love.”  
  
“But I’m not a mother anymore.”  
  
“You’ll _always_ be a mother, Donna. Don’t you doubt that.”  
  
Donna gives him a weak smile. “Thanks for saying that… And for not judging me…”  
  
“I wouldn’t. It’s not my place.”  
  
She actually chuckles then at the irony of her present situation. She’d opened up to a handsome stranger while her mother and her sisters still didn’t even know of the secret pain she’d carried around on a daily basis for so many years.  
  
She turns back to face the playground. Dino suddenly looks up and waves wildly to his grandfather. Eric waves back, an affectionate grin on his handsome face. “He really is adorable,” Donna says.  
  
“I think so too, but then again, I may be biased.”  
  
She laughs. It feels nice as it begins as a low rumble in her tummy and travels outwards.  
  
“You have a nice laugh,” Eric observes.  
  
She smiles, unsure of how to respond to that. Just then, Dino runs over, carrying a little rock he has found in the sandbox. “Grandpa, _look!”_ he exclaims holding it up to view. “I think it’s a magic rock.”  
  
Eric smiles. “It certainly is a nifty little thing, isn’t it, Dino?” He gestures towards Donna. “Can you show it to my new friend too?”  
  
Dino looks over at Donna. With only a little hesitancy, he holds out his chubby fist to her and she grins as the smooth stone drops into her palm. “This is so cool!” Donna enthuses. “It does seem pretty magical… I wonder if can it turn vegetables into chocolate? That would be so cool, huh?”  
  
Dino laughs at her silly little joke and warmth swirls in her chest. Her eyes meet Eric’s. Somehow she knows she’s made two new friends today and who knows, maybe someday they’ll meet up again.  
  
THE END.


End file.
